The Empress's New Consort
by Alley Cat Sunflower
Summary: Flynn's future is looking bright. He's the Commandant, not to mention married to the fairest princess in the land. However, said princess's definition of faithfulness is a little looser than his, and one fine evening, he finds himself face-to-face with none other than another of Estelle's lovers. How will he react? T for suggestive themes. I do not own Vesperia or the cover art!


Flynn's day was going fine… until he opened his bedroom door.

He had only been going to poke his head in and tell Estelle not to wait up for him, since he still had a couple hours' worth of work ahead of him before he could come to bed. This would be the fifth straight night when he would be unable to perform his husbandly duties, much to his annoyance; the duties of a Commandant took precedence.

However, all his outrage turned to blank shock as he observed the scene before him. Estelle and—what was that cranky mage's name?—_Rita Mordio _sat giggling on his bed, like they were accustomed to doing so. The brown-haired girl was clad only in her undergarments and had her eyes closed: she was trying to unclothe his wife without looking, as her fingers busied themselves with her dress.

Flynn's shock turned back to outrage and increased exponentially. He frankly wasn't sure which of the three of them he was most angry at: Rita, for having the audacity to take his place; Estelle, for her unfaithfulness; or himself, for neglecting the signs he now vividly remembered (Rita visited every week, and 'talked' privately with Estelle for hours, never failing to elevate her mood considerably).

"Flynn!" gasped Estelle suddenly, turning her head slightly and catching sight of him standing motionlessly in the doorway. Rita's eyes flew open: she turned a deep shade of crimson, redder even than her clothes that lay piled on the floor, and her eyes widened.

"You said he wasn't going to be here for another couple hours!" hissed Rita to Estelle, and the future Empress's eyes widened. Flynn turned around, prepared to storm off to his duties as Commandant, but Estelle whispered for him to wait, and he halted reluctantly, but did not turn around.

"I'll hear you out," he said stiffly, "_if_ you would be so kind as to clothe yourself, Miss Mordio." He hardly wanted to have to look at her like that, not only for the indecency of it, but also because of the fact that Estelle was doubtless the one who had done it.

There was a sigh and a rustle: Flynn turned around, relieved, after still silence took its place, but quickly found that Rita had instead removed Estelle's dress and was glaring at him arrogantly. He strode forward, fists clenched, refusing to tolerate this any longer, and thought that perhaps he understood now how Yuri could have committed murder so easily.

"Take it easy," growled Rita as he approached. "You're upsetting Estelle."

"Yeah, and she upset me first!" retorted Flynn, staring at his wife with disbelieving fury; she was staring blankly at her folded knees. "Go on, explain. I haven't got all night, as I had been going to say before _this _happened."

There was a long silence, during which Flynn abruptly remembered that he was standing in front of two scantily clad females of more than unusually attractive nature (no matter how much he hated the sight of Rita), and retreated momentarily to shut and lock the door before approaching once more.

"I still love you!" exclaimed Estelle suddenly, looking up, and Flynn made a derisive noise, crossing his arms disbelievingly and meeting her eyes challengingly. "Really," she added ardently. "I had been going to tell you, but… you were always so busy…"

"Not busy enough that I wouldn't want to know you were _cheating _on me," interrupted Flynn, glowering. "How long has this been happening, anyway? Were you lying on the day of our wedding, when you said you would keep you only unto _me_?"

"Weren't you listening?" snapped Rita. "She _said _she loves you!"

"Emperors _can_ have consorts," added Estelle, a blush gracing her fragile cheeks as she glanced away. "And I'm going to be Empress someday, so…" She trailed off.

"So I'm her consort," finished Rita proudly. "Got a problem with that?"

"Yes, actually," retorted Flynn, staring at her incredulously. "How could I not?"

"By acknowledging that the old laws clearly state Emperors are allowed to have official consorts, provided they remain otherwise faithful to their spouse," responded Rita, raising an infuriating eyebrow. "And she has. Right, Estelle?"

"Every night he's come in before midnight," agreed Estelle shyly, and Flynn let out a long sigh, finding himself quite at a loss for words. Much to his annoyance, their excuses made sense, and the fact _had_ actually crossed his mind that Estelle could take a consort if she wanted. He just hadn't anticipated that she would actually take one… or, more importantly, that said consort would be a female.

Most of his world had just been almost completely destroyed. He found himself looking forward to slaving away over paperwork for another couple hours. Though, he doubted he'd be able to focus at all. Better to get a good night's rest (if that was a possibility either, which he likewise doubted).

"I need to sleep on it," muttered Flynn, holding his head in his hands.

"Then come here and sleep on it," responded Rita smirkingly.

Flynn gave his bed, and the ladies on it, a distrustful glare. Now that he knew what had been going on during the evenings when he had been working, he hardly wanted to touch those sheets again, much less sleep in them.

"All right, then, don't," shrugged Rita at his obstinate silence. "But I didn't come here to have my fun ruined, so whatever decision you make, you better make it fast," she added, and without further ado pressed kisses down Estelle's neck, ignoring Flynn's presence completely.

Flynn, bizarrely enough, was more intrigued than furious at this display, much to his own surprise (though he turned around for decency's sake). He vaguely remembered Yuri saying something about how voyeurism was disgusting… unless you were watching two girls, in which case, it was enviable. Though Flynn had once adamantly refused to believe it, now he understood deep down where Yuri had been coming from.

His hand came to rest on the doorknob, but he couldn't find the resolve to open it and walk out. Glancing back nervously at the two girls, he found that though the two of them were by now horizontal and fully unclothed, Estelle was looking over at _him_. There was a peculiar expression in her green eyes he could never resist; her prim and proper appearance belied her capacity for seduction—and realized with a jolt that there was an unspoken invitation there.

Flynn tried to remember his anger of a few minutes ago, but found himself unable to do so as he turned more fully around, body acting without his mind's input. Rita's eyes, too, came to rest on his, and there was a dare flaring there.

He stepped forward uncertainly, but gathered his determination as he approached the two of them, removing his cape as he went: Estelle's face flashed with ecstasy in his peripheral vision, but Flynn's eyes remained trained on Rita's.

If there was one thing he couldn't walk away from, it was a challenge.

* * *

"Rise and shine, lovebirds!"

The voice, accompanied by the sound of an unlocking door, sliced through Flynn's dreams like a sword. He sat bolt upright, panicking as he rearranged the covers to conceal a sleeping Rita, and somehow managed to yank his pants on in the few seconds before Yuri walked in.

"Good morning," he said, smirking. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, till you woke me up," growled Flynn. "Now get _out_." He paused a moment, a frown spasming across his face, to wonder how exactly Yuri had gotten _in_; his best friend (if you could call him a 'friend') saw the question on his face, and smiled.

"Oh, a shady old man gave me the key," he shrugged. "That's really not important, though. What's important is the news I have." Flynn raised his eyebrows apprehensively; if Yuri had gotten himself willingly out of bed before nine o'clock, something important must have happened, and Flynn prayed it wasn't Yuri's own doing this time.

"I had hoped to tell Estelle too, but I guess you'll do," shrugged Yuri, glancing briefly at her sleeping form (body fortunately covered by the blankets) before turning his gaze back to Flynn. "Anyway," he asserted, "Judy and I are going to be mar… ried…" He trailed off, frowning at where Rita stirred under the covers, which she flung away from her face immediately. Her eyes remained closed as she spoke, and Flynn glanced bashfully at Yuri, whose eyes widened in shock.

"Ready to go again?" she murmured, stretching.

"…Well, well, Flynn," chortled Yuri, having evidently gotten over his initial surprise, and Rita squealed in alarm, green eyes flying open; Flynn felt himself turn a deep shade of scarlet. "Never thought you had it in you. Two girls at once? I'm going to have to get to work just to keep up with you." He turned around in mock decency. "Well, don't let me keep you from your fun."

"I-it wasn't my idea!" snapped Flynn defensively at his retreating back, and Rita nodded fervently in agreement, but Yuri only turned fully around once and laughed at them before shutting the door behind him. Estelle stirred faintly, but did not awaken; Flynn and Rita exchanged a half-exasperated, half-worried glance (the former paused a moment to wonder at how quickly they had become allies when last evening they were enemies), and gradually settled themselves back down on either side of the sleeping princess.

Flynn only hoped Yuri wouldn't somehow rope him into a night with him and Judith, because if he was being honest with himself, he was quite sure he'd never want to keep him only unto Estelle again.

**((Dedicated to Viisauden, who is the only reason I actually developed this idea at all, much less wrote about it. You have him to thank if I scarred you.))**


End file.
